Two

PHENIX RISING

Started as a place for Eddy residents to sell alcohol, Phenix had high hopes. From the tent city rose stores, restaurants, a theater, an opera house, gambling houses, and several saloons. The saloons, owned by locals and sheriffs, soon attracted outlaws, prostitutes, and gamblers. John Wesley Hardin, Clay Allison, Martin M’Rose, and Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum were all reported to have frequented the facilities. Reports of Billy the Kid visiting are false, however, since Phenix was established in 1892, some 11 years after he was killed by Patrick Garrett in Fort Sumner.

Sheriff Dave Kemp was no stranger to both sides of the law, having been accused of murder as a teenager. Kemp was the owner of saloons not only in Phenix, but also in the sister suburb of Wolftown. The tent city of Wolftown was built directly on the ruts of the road back to Eddy from the north. Workers would either have to stop or go out of their way to completely avoid the establishment to continue on their way.

The Eddy Argus, a local newspaper, reported: “Some of our citizens went to Black River, and some got no farther than Phenix, and there remained deeply immersed in the history of the four Kings, or muddled their brains attempting to solve the mysteries of the Anheuser-Busch combination.”

As gambling and prostitution flourished in Phenix, so did crime. Decent citizens were unable to patronize the other attractions Phenix had to offer without being accosted by drunks and half-naked women. This situation caused an outcry from the townsfolk. Deputy Dee Harkey, previously a saloon owner himself, was hired to eliminate the rough elements from the town, a job he took seriously. Jeered by the women of the brothel and its owner, Ed Lyell, Harkey began enforcing the Edmunds Act by arresting many of the ladies and their pimps repeatedly. Defeated, the Phenix group left for Globe, Arizona in 1895 with great fanfare as their band played a rendition of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” in Harkey’s honor.

Dee Harkey, cowboy, butcher, lawman, and author of Mean as Hell, was the nightmare of Phenix businessmen. Hired to clean out what the town called pests, Harkey quickly became the thorn in the side of many saloon and brothel owners while raising the ire of sheriff Dave Kemp. He accomplished his goal as a constable under Cicero Stewart.

Pictured in this 1894 photograph, sheriff and saloon owner Dave Kemp was a dashing figure in the area, but trouble followed him like a shadow. The Eddy Argus, a local newspaper, said his only vice was chewing gum although he would later be accused and acquitted of the murder of rival sheriff candidate Les Dow. He died of a heart attack in 1935 at the age of 73.

James Leslie “Les” Dow made a fast enemy of Dave Kemp by arresting him for calf rustling as a detective for the Texas-New Mexico Cattle Raiser’s Association. Kemp later returned the favor by arresting Dow for rustling 23 of his cattle. Dow convinced the court that brand tampering had occurred and was released. The bad blood between the two would lead to Dow’s eventual death.

Little Chihuahua, a Mexican-American village, was originally dug into the west banks of the Pecos River, but with the arrival of the railroad, the general manager forced the entire population of 12 families to move to the east side to accommodate the tracks. Small wood and adobe shacks were built to house the residents.

Confiscated stills and bottles of whiskey were commonplace in early Eddy. The drugstores would order in whiskey by the casks, filling bottles only for medicinal purposes, of which the citizens of Eddy were allowed to write their own prescriptions. Pharmacists were called to task about this practice and fined heavily if convicted.

As Dee Harkey enacted the Edmunds Act on the citizens of Phenix, he would deliver them to Judge A. A. Freeman’s Fifth Judicial District Court of the New Mexico Territory in Socorro. By 1895, Ed Lyell, the leader of the Phenix group, was told by Judge Freeman all charges would be dropped in exchange for leaving the area. The contingent moved to Globe, Arizona 15 days later.

Four dandies of the town of Carlsbad pose in front of Leck’s Grocery and Pool Room, which was a popular spot for gentlemen to gather in 1902. Before moving west, owner William Leck received minor wounds in the Battle of Gettysburg in the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry. He operated his store on the 200 block of South Canyon Street for two decades.

The Loving Saloon, owned by Fred Montgomery, was located 12 miles south of Eddy in the small suburb of Loving. Loving was named in memory of cattleman Oliver Loving, who was attacked and mortally wounded a few miles from the hamlet. Loving did not have the same restrictions as Eddy on alcohol, but it was a good distance from Eddy, unlike Phenix, which was only a mile away.

Some believe the man standing in the left of this photograph to be Billy the Kid, but after much debate, it is thought more likely to be Bob Speaks. Standing to the right is Jim Jones. Seated, from left to right, are John Jones and Buck Powell, all members of the Seven Rivers Warriors gang. The Joneses were personal friends of Billy the Kid.

Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum worked as a cowboy in the Guadalupe Mountains before joining up with his brother Sam to rob railroads across the territory. Ketchum, the tallest man in the back row, pictured here along with members of his Guadalupe cattle drive, was ultimately hanged for train robbery in Clayton, New Mexico.

After Phenix closed and Charles Eddy left the area, the town of Carlsbad got its first saloon. Shown here is the Barfield Saloon located at 205 West Fox Street in Carlsbad, with Fred Thornton, the first black bartender. The Eddy Argus considered the saloon “that great curse and evil of civilization.”

The interior of a similarly decorated saloon located at 128 S. Canyon Street, around the corner from the Barfield Saloon, is featured in this 1908 photograph. Leaded glass windows, oil lamps, and nude paintings added to the saloon’s ambiance. Belle of Bourbon, Kentucky Comfort, and California claret were popular spirits during this time. This saloon later became Star Pharmacy.

John D. Walker, featured in this 1895 portrait, was assessor before being elected for a yearlong term as sheriff in Eddy. He defeated reputed outlaw Walker Bush, who was reported to have killed seven men and was highly supported by his half-brother, Dave Kemp. Bush’s defeat began the downhill swing of what was locally known as Kemp’s “courthouse ring” of personally chosen deputies.

Eddy County sheriff Miles Cicero Stewart was partially responsible for bringing down the train-robbing Ketchum Gang run by Black Jack Ketchum, by engaging in a shootout with and eventually arresting Elzy Lay at Chimney Wells. Stewart lost his first bid for sheriff to Les Dow, but ironically was asked to finish his term when Dow was fatally shot.

Corner Drug was the first drugstore in Carlsbad in 1914, a time when coal oil mixed with sugar, molasses, or honey was used as a cure for most ailments. Turpentine and castor oil combinations acted as a diuretic, laxative, stimulant, and tonic. Strychnine sulfate is highly toxic, but was widely used by early druggists. Whiskey was still the most favored prescription in the county.

Tin ceilings and a potbellied stove were prominent features of the Eddy Drug Store. The drugstore was a place to find many unusual items to purchase. Those suffering a cough were given the syrup of squill (which is essentially rat poison), paregoric, peppermint water, lavender water, and wild cherry syrup.

The last surviving structure of Phenix is pictured here shortly before it was torn down in 1989. This building was still occupied until only a few years before it came down. Rumors of gold buried around the house attracted many treasure hunters, only to be disappointed in their efforts. Surviving the many mysterious fires that plagued Phenix, the building was thought to have housed a saloon.

Local legend tells of a tunnel built and maintained by the gentlemen of Eddy in order to anonymously visit Phenix, otherwise known as Jagtown. Although no evidence has ever been found, older locals will swear to its existence. This building contained several rooms, six outside doors, and outside adobe walls measuring 17 inches thick. Thwarted efforts were made to preserve the building.